Raising Cane

In Maharashtra state, nearly one hundred sugar factories are owned and operated by peasants. Large in scale and efficient in operation, these factories are organized as cooperatives, with half a million cane growers as their voting members. In many cases, the co-ops have out-competed factories owned by industrial capitalists. This book describes th Introduction -- The Problem -- The Setting -- Sugar Production Before Independence -- Irrigation and Imperialism -- Peasants Versus Capitalists -- Malegaon Village, 1900-1950 -- Old Elites and New Entrepreneurs -- Migration and Economic Mobility -- The Pattern of Inequality and Mobility -- Cooperative Sugar, 1950–1985 -- The Politics of Sugar -- Performance and Impact of a Sugar Co-op -- Why Do Some Cooperatives Work? -- Conclusion -- Revolution from the Middle -- Appendix on Methods